Stupid politics and “saving” Banglatown

Plans to remove the electoral ward of Banglatown from Tower Hamlets have been slammed as “an attack on Bangladeshis” by Mayor Lutfur Rahman, who has threatened legal action to block them.

The Boundary Commission unveiled its draft proposals for a reduction in the number of councillors sitting in the Town Hall last week, adopting recommendations from Tower Hamlets council’s Conservative group to remove “Banglatown” from the title of the Spitalfields and Banglatown ward.

The proposals have been met with fierce opposition, from councillors from the independent mayor’s cabinet and Tower Hamlets Labour group.

Ward councillor for Spitalfields and Banglatown Gulam Robbani said: “Generations of the Bangladeshi community have historically settled and started businesses in the Brick Lane and Banglatown area.

“This Tory proposal is a smack in the face for thousands of Bangladeshis and non-Bangladeshis who have struggled and sacrificed to have Banglatown recognised in the map of Tower Hamlets.”

Mayor Rahman added that the council would consider a legal challenge to ensure the name is retained.

“Let me be absolutely clear; this decision to adopt a Conservative proposal is a disgrace,” he said.

“This is an attack on Bangladeshis, not only in this country but across the world, and I will do everything I can to retain the name Banglatown.”

Labour has also urged the Commission to drop the plans, insisting the name is an important symbol for the East End’s Bangladeshi community.

However, Conservative group leader cllr Peter Golds accused Mayor Rahman of “playing the race card”, and said that the Bangladeshi community is spread across the borough.

He added: “There will always be Banglatown on a map, but why should it be included in a local government ward name?

“There is no government ward in country that specifies a community. This is an abolsutely typical attempt to paint opponents as racist.”

Sigh.

How utterly depressing. The Tories suggestion to drop the Banglatown name is one of the poorest political moves I’ve seen in Tower Hamlets for quite some time.

To allow the egregious Gulam Robbani the chance to whip up more division and fuel the “great white plot” conspiracy theories that Lutfur Rahman used successfully in his 2010 election campaign is nothing less than stupid.

Lutfur Rahman, Mayor of Tower Hamlets reassured the Bangladeshi community across the country that all options are being considered including a legal challenge, if necessary, of the Boundary Commission’s proposed decision to drop Banglatown from the ward name Spitalfields and Banglatown.

A national outcry has ensued in the Bangladeshi community since the Commission’s proposal came to light last week.

Speaking to the waiting media on Brick Lane, in the heart of Banglatown, Mayor Rahman said:

“I have written to the Director of Boundary Commission with my objections; protesting in the strongest possible way and asking them to reverse their decision.

“Let me be absolutely clear. This decision to adopt a Conservative proposal is a disgrace. Banglatown is the spiritual home of Bangladeshis outside of Bangladesh.

“This is an attack on Bangladeshis, not only in this country but across the world, and I will do everything I can to retain the name Banglatown.”

Ward Cllr. Gulam Robbani, leading the Save Banglatown Campaign on behalf of the Mayor said:

“I urge everyone to sign the Save Banglatown petition, email or write to the Boundary Commission to show your disgust at this proposal, together we can reverse this decision.”

A “national outcry”? An “attack on Bangladeshis across the world”? Not among the Bengalis I know. They have more pressing concerns, for example wondering why Lutfur, who throws around grants to his friends in small community groups, seems to have cut down so heavily on road-sweeping services that dog dirt lies on pavements for fortnights at a time.

That said, the Tories need to lance this little boil – and quickly. Lutfur’s crew have started a petition to “Save Banglatown”. It’s great that we have a name which celebrates Bangladeshi culture in the borough.

A few years ago, Labour’s Abdal Ullah tried to get Shoreditch High Street station renamed Banglatown. He failed but he raised his profile politically and in that regard it was a clever move.

The Tories should admit it was a mistake, that they have listened, and call for the Boundary Commission to drop the idea.

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33 Responses

First we had Labour hand the election to Lutz (much cooler nickname I think) with a complete balls up and now, we have the Cons helping him to another term, he was able to paint himself as the lone persecuted victim and now, he can portray all Bengalis as victims…. Ted’s going to be kept busy on his blog right through to 2018!!

As Cllr. Golds says “There is no government ward in country that specifies a community”. Why should the Bengali communities existence be recorded as an official location, any more than the existence of a Jewish, Irish or Huguenot presence. Local businesses can continue to “brand” the Brick Lane area as Banglatown without any help from the Boundary Commission.

In my experience, having helped to make submissions in the past ,the Boundary Commission acts in an independent, highly logical way. They would not have accepted the Conservative proposal unless it was well argued and reasonable. Sometimes it is important to stand up for what is right, even if it is unpopular with some people.

From what I understand the ward was called Spitalfields until 1998 when Tower Hamlets Council decided to rename it themselves. This proposal outside a normal “review” process had to be approved by the relevant Secretary of State who in this instance was John Prescott. He approved it because he was a Labour politician and THLP presumably waxed lyrical about how it would help them out.

Lutfur couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas gift. If ever he needed evidence of a plot against the local Bangladeshi community this is it. If he wins this battle he’ll be claimed as the hero of Bangladeshi community. If he looses, his next election strategy has just been written by the conservatives It’s win win for the mayor. Well done Mr Golds.

Banglatown is actually a dumb name anyway – what is wrong with Brick Lane or Spitalfields? The latter 2 don’t exclude any people with historical and cultural ties to the area prior to simultaneously to the Bangladeshis, and leaves it open as a place for future migration of other peoples and cultures. I doubt very much the Boundary Commission are making a political statement – merely a statement of fact.

I don’t know anyone who refers to the area as Banglatown. Surely most of those who visit for the restaurants say “Brick Lane” as do the trendy folk who go out in “Brick Lane”. I would think a large percentage of those visiting the area think they are going for “an indian” anyway. Why not call it Spitalfields and Brick Lane” or is there already a “brick lane” ward?

I’ve never liked the Bow West/East; Mile End North/South? ward names myself they don’t seem to translate into the geographical areas I know.

You’re right Ted that it shows poor political judgment by the Tories, and it may give Lutfur Rahman and his cronies a good way of whipping up support amongst un-integrated communities. But you ignore the fact that getting rid of the divisive name Banglatown from the local government map is unequivocally the right thing to do. There is more than just one community living in the Spitalfields area.

It rather looks like there are two points being conflated into one discussion heee; electoral boundary changes and a change of name. Out of interest, what were the reasons for the change in boundary?

The name issue seems logical; why should the bangladeshis have a ward named especially for them? The area is historically Jewish – why was it not named “Jew-town”? Or ‘Hugenot-town” before that? Demanding a special name for their own special area is hardly going to encourage the integration of the community.

The clear link between the above two points tells you why the despicable Rahman is out in force against the proposals.

Ted, I am disappointed that should criticise the TH Conservatives for recommending that ‘Spitalfields & Banglatown’ ward is named simply to ‘Spitalfields’. I am far from alone in believing their suggestion to be extremely sensible and something for which they should be commended.
The name “Banglatown” was added to the name Spitalfields in 1998. It is a monstrous New Labour aberration that set a dangerous precedent and was made for purely party-political reasons by John Prescott during one of his less lucid moments. It is resented by many non-Bangladeshis who do not regard the area they live in as Banglatown or even Anglotown…instead they see it as Spitalfields and always have done.

No other part of the country has ever been renamed (at least not since the Dark Ages) after a racial group who happen to dwell there at that moment. The name “Banglatown” implies that the Bangladeshi community own it, it is theirs and somehow they have a favoured position within it or more right to it. In case people had forgotten at least half the people who live in Spitalfields are not from the Bangladeshi community and many dislike the needlessly pejorative name it currently has.

We are reminded ad nauseum how this “One” Tower Hamlets “celebrates diversity”. The council clearly knows how to talk the talk but when it comes to walking the walk it is quite a different story entirely. There is nothing diverse about naming local government wards after single racial groups. Nobody in their right mind would suggest renaming any other parts of London after racial groups that happen to live there. We don’t have Turktown or Somalitown or Hindutown so I can see no justification whatsoever in renaming Spitalfields “Banglatown”. Yes, there is “Chinatown” but this is not the name of a ward – the ward it is in is called “St. James”. People are quite entitled to refer to the area as Chinatown and that is quite sufficient – it isn’t any less Chinese just because the local government ward is named St. James and the same should apply for Spitalfields. If the Chinese move out of Soho the place will eventually stop being known as Chinatown just as what happened in Limehouse, the original Chinatown.

Spitalfields or ‘spitalfields gets its name from “Hospital Fields”. It has had this name or a version of it since 1197. Spitalfields has a proud history for welcoming migrants for centuries (not just since 1971 despite what you may have heard) and at no point did any of those migrant groups whether they be Irish, Huguenot or Jewish feel the need to rename it and claim it exclusively as their own. If the ward had been named “Jewishtown” would Bangladeshi migrants have felt it was a place where they could build a future for themselves? Renaming places after racial groups is the sort of thing that happens in Bosnia & Herzegovina not in London during the 21st Century.

For Lutfur to say that there has been some sort of international outcry because the ward may now have its name revert to its proper name is pure hyperbole. It also gives Lutfur a great disservice because it reveals to the Boundary Commission (among others) how he is only interested in promoting the interests of one community in this borough – that of his own. I would hope that the LGBCE now looks at the rest of his proposals under a new light.

For quite some time many of the people of Spitalfields who are not Bangladeshi have felt like second-class citizens. It feels like we are on the frontline in a campaign of aggressive Bangladeshi nationalism. Gulam Robanni can only claim to represent one section of the community in Spitalfields because during his election campaign he never even bothered to show his face to non-Bangladeshis, shunning hustings meetings held in a calculated insult.

The draft proposal made by the LGBCE to put back the name to Spitalfields and undo the biased political meddling of John Prescott is a fair and sensible proposal. However the boundaries they recommend for the new ward are based on Lutfur Rahman’s plans. As you know, Ted, Lutfur has had someone working on these boundaries for a long time (one of his salaried SPADs) and no doubt he has figured out ways to configure these changes to maximise his political advantage. The ‘Spitalfields’ he proposed and which the LGBCE have mistakenly included in their draft proposals extends from Bishopsgate to Cambridge Heath Road. This proposal will inundate the legitimate interests of the actual community of Spitalfields by submersing it in a far wider area with which they do not identify and have little in common in terms of services provision, conservation needs and the urban landscape. This is the real mistake the LGBCE has made and hopefully they will now see Lutfur’s agenda for what it is and review their arrangements across the whole borough.

JF makes good points tho’ Ted, despite your distinctly lukewarm response to his post. Let’s see past the hyperbole and they make good sense.

I’m alarmed by his closing comment about the new boundaries being based on recommendations from Rahman, doubtless to maximise his own political advantage. Is there any basis in this? It does seem to sit ill with the generally high regard for the LGBCE elsewhere on this thread.

“Personally, I think it’s quite fun to have the name Banglatown. I also suspect that had someone suggested Jew-town or Huguenot-town in times gone by, they’d have been shot down, perhaps literally so. ”

Which makes me wonder what has changed since ‘times gone by’, that perjorative and divisive names which would have been ridiculed (to death) back then are are formalised in statute now.

In 1998 the proposal from LBTH was actually to drop the name Spitalfields entirely. It was only after an outcry did they compromise and go for Spitalfields AND Banglatown.

It is not a “silly little” political boundary. Ward boundaries have a fundamental effect on elections and election turn out. Spitalfields is the name of an actual place which has a long history and a very clear sense of local community identity. If you lived here you would know that. You would see that there is a real sense of disconnect and exclusion felt amongst the non-Bangladeshi residents of Spitalfields. Non-Bangladeshi people genuinely feel ignored by our local councillors and the mayor. To have the area named in favour of one community is not “quite fun” and only makes a lamentable situation “official” which I and many others think is unacceptable.

One of the aims of boundary commission is to create wards which reflect local notions of identity. As such perhaps there should be a ward named Old Ford, maybe someone should recommend it. I also, think there should be wards for the communities of (actual) Spitalfields, Cambridge Heath, Aldgate East, Old Nichol, St. Katherine’s etc. The enormous multi-member wards that are proposed are just too big for anyone other than major political players to campaign in and are bad for democratic choice. The reason why these big multi-member wards are so strongly supported by Labour (etc) is because they maintain the status quo. Nobody would recommend huge multi-member parliamentary constituencies so why do we need multi-member wards?

The people of Spitalfields have very particular needs and interests. Spitalfields is unique in the borough because it attracts millions and millions of tourists and visitors every year who appreciate its historic character and come to visit its bars, restaurants, markets and shops. It is a vibrant cosmopolitan area with a modern, mixed community that wants to protect and improve the area. We have quite unique licensing, planning, conservation and policing needs which are distinct from the rest of the borough. However, with the possible exception of Helal Abbas our councillors totally fail to understand this range of needs.

Yes we do live in more tolerant, enlightened times Ted. So why do we need to have places named after racial groups? Let’s leave Spitalfields as a neutral name that gives no favour or bias towards any racial, religious or cultural group.

I can handle the ad hominem tone of your response. However, I suspect many of the people of Spitalfields will not appreciate the way you casually dismiss their quite genuine and quite justifiable dissatisfaction with the present state of affairs.

Watching the debate on this on channel S, a Bengali satellite channel. It’s like watching Abu Qatada in a debate with EDF members in the middle of a EDF conference. Brave man…. the Tory on channel S, not Abu Qatada.

Islamic Forum of Europe should now step in and pay for a full blow international campaign against this vicious racist attack on local people. They should appoint Shelina Akthar as a face of the campaign as she definitely has (at least “housing”) links to the area. Gulam Robbani will support her on consultancy basis – charging per hour for his consulting to control the costs. Zamal Uddin and Raijb Ahmed will take care of the logistic side of things – so expect a lot of parking suspensions. East End Life might increase its frequency and the Mayor would surely agree to replace his thirty one pictures in the paper with the campaign’s coverage.

There are more people who could point the area on the map if you mention “Votefraudtown” than Banglatown.

JF: very well said. The key point is that nowhere else in London has a specific ethnic group successfully claimed naming rights for an electoral ward. Ted, would you be in favour of renaming St James’s Ward in favour of Chinatown, and what about the Hasidic Jews in Stamford Hill, the French in South Kensington etc. Why don’t we just have an orgy of ethnic labelling, and why not extend it to parliamentary constituencies – it will do wonders for community cohesion (or whatever the current buzzword is).

My family has been in spitalfields for since 1937. We have 5 generations born and raised in hanbury street. No one consulted us to have Bangla town name, and no will consult us to get rid off it. There is about 89 people in whole family, who all have friends and from all walks of life, races, religions, and other Bengalis. NO ONE GAVE A FLYING F..K. before or will now. We all busy with life. my family have resturant and shops in bricklane. We all call the area as bricklane and always will do.

Do you want to know why it’s doubly stupid? Because under s. 59 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, Tower Hamlets Council can change the name of any of its wards by passing a resolution with a two thirds majority – see http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/28/section/59. So if the Tories persuade the LGBCE to remove the name ‘Banglatown’ from a ward, the council can simply vote to put it back in.

Well, if that is truly the case then apart from it being sad news for Spitalfields it does rather make Lutfur look like a total plonker having written his protest letters and gone on telly and everything. Gullam can end his hunger strike now too. Whilst we mere mortal cannot be expected to know the minutiae of of local government law surely the director of legal services or whatever she is called at the council ought to…

On the contrary he is not a plonker – one of the main messages of this blog is that forgetting the whole issue of the name and why should it be attached to Bengalis, its the fact that Lutfur can and will use this to his advantage, which many of those who hate Lutfur are forgetting here.

He may already know that he could easily get the name back, but he will use this as another vote winner just like he used his victim status in 2010, this debate allows him to use the ‘Bengalis as a whole as victims’ – I’m pretty sure Ted agrees and knows this cock up by Cons do to this now will be a repeat of 2010

It was a quite dismal and pathetic attempt by Labour to steal some of Lutfur’s nationalist votes, that is all. Josh Peck and his Labour drones have been banging on about it all day on twitter… I think there was a motion at some point during the meeting which included all sorts of things they knew Lutfur’s gang could not support (such as a call to the LGBCE to keep all 51 councillors) and included within that motion there was this critique of the Spitalfields ward name change thrown in. So naturally Labour all supported it and Lutfur’s lot didn’t and Labour have been using this sad effort to try to present themselves as the defenders of Banglatown ever since.

Ted, I agree with you, or rather I did until I saw the declarations by various political grandstanders to ‘fight to the death’ to keep ‘Banglatown’ – even to ‘go to war’. Channel 9 in Bangladesh was full of this rubbish last week with Lutfur making the running 10,000 miles from here. That led me to ask my Bengali chums whether they use the name Banglatown. None do – including the restaurateurs (most of whom are wanting to sell up anyway) and their touts. Nor do the hordes of Essex boys and girls who invade the area at weekends. Nor do the market traders and market visitors. It’s Brick Lane Market, not Banglatown. Even the annual Mela is Brick Lane, not Banglatown. The Brick Lane music festval likewise.
A quick check of the ethnicity claimed by the various bars, cafes, restaurants, takeaways and street food vendors that are resident or set up in recent years include Mexican, Ethiopean, Thai, Japanese, Jewish, Brazilian, Burmese, Chinese, Swedish, Syrian, Moroccan, Malaysian, Argentinian, Filipino, American, French, Caribbean and even British! No new Bengali operations – indeed two curry restaurants have recently closed down, with more to come. The area is no longer a Bangladeshi fiefdom as it was when the sweatshops were operating at full tilt –it’s a fact of life and people should move on. It was only ever a political gimmick.
So then I tried Google – 135,000 findings for ‘Banglatown’ and 5,710,000 for ‘Brick Lane’.
Then I looked at the identity of community groups. The Mosque is the Brick Lane Mosque, not the Banglatown Mosque. The church is Christ Church, Spitalfields, not Banglatown. The following popular community groups all use the name ‘Spitalfields’:
Spitalfields Community Group; Spitalfields Society;; Spitalfields Community Group; Save Spitalfields; Concerned Residents of Spitalfields; Spitalfields Market Residents’ Association etc. None seem to use the name ‘Banglatown’, not even the Bengali-run and council sponsored Spitalfields Small Business Association.
We can all respect the important contribution that Bengalis have made in putting the area on the map and one can understand at one stage the importance of cultural recognition at a time when Bengalis were fighting for jobs, housing, equality and recognition. Something they did with great verve and flair, to their credit. But they have succeeded – not only do they run the Council, they control the Opposition as well.
Time to move on just as the Jews, Dutch, French etc did before them.

Mud-slinging between TH councillors and ex-councillors in sadly seen as normal. I live in Bow East ward which has seen some awfully inept councillors for over a decade (at least). There’s really a deep covert racism taking shape, aided by years of useless councillors feeding their pathetic egos on the back of communities who have seen through some hard times. I think the ‘Banglatown’ title is a good thing for that part of the borough – makes it interesting. I suppose some people would feel more comfortable if it was re-named ‘Tescotown’ instead.

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